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The Meaning of Meteora As an Orthodox Monastic Site

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The Meaning of Meteora As an Orthodox Monastic Site CHAPTER 7 The meaning of Meteora as an Orthodox monastic site 7.1. From the 11th century to approximately 1940: the original Tradition at Meteora From the 11th century to approximately 1940, the original Tradition has been applied to the site of Meteora. TheTradition of the Orthodox Church relates to a series of beliefs.1 Through the presentation of these beliefs, an attempt is made to draw the link between God as believed and worshipped in the Orthodox Church and the specific monastic space and practices at Meteora. Emphasis is on the definition of the concept of authenticity in the context of the Orthodox Church. God At the core of the Orthodox Church is the belief in the inextricable relationship between the Persons of the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) in a communion of Love (Vasileios 1974, 75−77). The substance of God is love (John 4. 8, translated by Bible 1966). The entire creation, comprising the angels, the universe and man, is the ‘natural’ [‘by nature’] expres- sion of the Love of God. God is always present in, and defines, the history of humanity through the creation of man by the Father (the beginning of history), the Incarnation of Christ/the Son (the centre of history) and the Second Coming of Christ (the end of history). Thus, the history of humanity is viewed in the Orthodox Church as a linear process, centred on the Incarnation of Christ. God created man ‘in his own image and likeness’. In this way …it is this unity that in substance connects the three persons of the Holy Trinity that God gave by the grace to his creature. This constitutes the ontological basis of the ‘in his own image’ and the capacity of achieving the ‘in his own likeness’. This is the harmony and balance of our nature as beings and of our relationship with our creator. (Vasileios 1974, 75−77) 1 This section makes an extensive use of quotations (from Greek literature) in an attempt not to alter the meanings in terms of belief and doctrine. The translations are the author’s. 46 The Past in the Present Through his fall, however, man destroyed the harmony and balance of his nature and his relationship with God, and consequently experienced death (Iosif 1996, 38). It was God Himself (Christ, ‘the Word’: John 1. 1−16, translated by Bible 1966) who restored this har- mony through His personal intervention in history, i.e. through His Incarnation, Death and Resurrection. The relationship between man and the environment is placed within the relationship between God and man. God created the environment as a tool for man to glorify and serve Him. Thus, the environment does not have value in its own right but only through its service to man. The ultimate aim of God is the salvation of man and not the salvation of the environment (Nikodimi 2002, 4−5). The fall of man, and consequently the destruction of the relationship between man and God, unavoidably affected the relationship between man and the environment. And it was only through the personal intervention of Christ in history that the environment was restored to its original essence (Nikodimi 2002, 5−6; Zizioulas 1992, 17−37). Therefore, Christ, the Incarnated Son of God, is the exclusive cause of salvation of man and of the entire creation, and thus the exclusive source of true life. Church The Church exists through its permanent relationship with God: ‘The living God continues to reveal Himself in and through the Church’ (Nellas 1987, 148−154). The Church was founded by Christ and with the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Church operates as a unified communion modelled upon the relationship within the Holy Trinity. The members of the Church are linked to each other through their individual linking with Christ. God created man, as noted above, ‘in His own image and likeness’. His image is given through the creation to everybody regardless of religion and doctrine. However, His likeness was offered through the Incarnation of Christ, and can be achieved only within the Church, through the Grace of God/the Holy Spirit and with the co-operation of man (Iosif 1996, 40−41). The Tradition of the Church The concept of authenticity in the context of the Orthodox Church is linked to that of Tradition. Tradition means any teaching or practice that has been transmitted from generation to generation throughout the life of the Church; it is ‘the very life of the Holy Trinity as it has been revealed by Christ Himself and testified by the Holy Spirit’ (Bebis 2014).2 To be more specific: Tradition is the continuous presence and revelation of God/the Holy Spirit in the Church throughout time and space (Vlachos 1937, 32; Nellas 1987, 148−154; Damianos 1987, 161−166). Tradition in Church is not simply the continuation of human memory or the continuation of the ritual activities and habits. It is, above all, the continuation of the guidance and il- lumination from God, it is the maintaining, living presence of the Holy Spirit. Church is not attached to the letter [of the law], but is steadily driven by the Holy Spirit. (Florovsky 1960, 241) Tradition defines the Church as a whole, including the Holy Scripture, the writings of the Holy Fathers, the decisions of Ecumenical and local Councils, the administration, the liturgical life, and 2 Tradition comes from the Latin traditio. The Greek term is paradosis, and means giving, offering, delivering. The meaning of Meteora as an Orthodox monastic site 47 the art of the Church. The Tradition is unified, rooted in the unity of the Holy Trinity (Vasileios 1986, 16−17; Damianos 1987, 161−166). As it was noted, everything in Church emerges from the same font of the liturgical experience. Everything co-operates in a triadic [i.e. associated to the Holy Trinity] way… Everything emerges from the knowledge of the Holy Trinity. (Vasileios 1974, 7−10) Tradition as an entity is experienced by the entire Body of the Church: As nothing is done within the Holy Trinity without the cooperation of the three Persons, similarly ‘nothing is achieved in the Church without the participation of its entire Body, without the consent of the ecclesiastical, triadic consciousness of the Church’ (Vasileios 1974, 75−77). In the first place, however,Tradition is revealed by God/Christ only to the Saints, who in turn pass it to the entire Body of the Church through their writings, their decisions and their art. Saints are the authentic, the real Christians, ‘the living examples of authenticity’, they ‘become Tradition themselves’ and are ‘sons of God by the grace’ (Damianos 1987, 161−166; Vlachos 1987, 167). In this way, …the authentic man does not simply constitute a model of moral completion, but is actu- ally transformed in a vessel of revelation of the dogmatic truths [of the Church]. He expe- riences and reveals the Economy [Oikonomia] of God [i.e. all the actions of God for the salvation of man] in its entity. (Nikolaos 2005, 158−159) The real Christian is compatible with the doctrine of the Church, but also brings something new and original of his/her own: The image of the authentic person is not something that exists and everyone should imi- tate, but something that does not exist and everyone is asked to create. It is the expression of the one for which man is chosen. Authenticity is what demonstrates the holiness and the uniqueness of the person. (Nikolaos 2005, 133−134) The real Christian is contemporary at any time: …not … worldly ‘contemporary’; but … ‘contemporary’ in the sense of bearing/incarnat- ing the eternal message of God in the present [of each times]. He bears/incarnates the Tra- dition of the Church and also the image of the ultimate… The Christian life is authentic… when we experience the kingdom of God as more real than the historic events. (Nikolaos 2005, 157−158 and 132) The real Christian ‘constantly acts in the boundaries between God and man’, but remains ‘truly humane’ (Nikolaos 2005, 154). As it was characteristically noted: Authenticity helps a Christian to constantly act in the boundaries between God and man, between rationale and mystery, between the love of God and the pain of man, between freedom and obedience. This [authenticity] inspires him to move also in the beyond of personal space, of humane measure, of secular time, of ego. It is in these boundaries that God is hiding. It is in this beyond that one meets his brother, eternity, grace, truth, God Himself… The authentic/real Christian is truly humane. He does not find salvation on his own, he shares salvation. He can be devoid of his pride, and thus unify with God and with his brothers. (Nikolaos 2005, 154) Therefore, Church is not seen as a group of people operating on the basis of majority, but as a com- munity of saints operating on the basis of the Tradition of the Church. 48 The Past in the Present Worship (The Holy Liturgy) The Holy Liturgy is the most significant aspect, thesine qua non, the core of the Tradition of the Church since it unifies the faithful with Christ. Holy Liturgy is ‘a ritual, …the transi- tion from the empirical world to the symbolic one, …communion with God and with society’ (Papadopoulos 1991a, 44−45). Given that Christ is the reason for the salvation of the entire creation (see above), it is basically the Holy Liturgy that gives salvation as well as essence to the entire creation: The Holy Liturgy makes the organism of creation as a whole operate in the triadic way.
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